Photographer Captures A Weathered Wall Throughout The Years

Ever wondered if places have a memory? Do they remember us? We remember them, that bench you sat on the first time that you realized you loved someone, the staircase where you shared a kiss with someone. In truth places always seem to have a certain mystique for us, sometimes I wonder; what if the place could talk and we could look back at all it has seen. Time shapes all things, people, plants and even places. A gentleman named Alper Yesiltas lives in Istanbul and from his window he had a unique view of an interesting wall, over the course of twelve years he decided to take pictures that told a story of their own.

A brilliant blood-red wall, with a single window. The glass had long since fled from the frame and a single crisp white curtain that fluttered in time to the whisper of the wind…
This is how a writer might describe the wall you see below. However, sometimes words just don’t do a place justice, no matter how eloquent or descriptive they may be. Some things can only be experienced through images, it’s then that we can truly begin to understand them.

Take a moment and look, really look, at this picture. Take in all the cracks, stains and marks. In a lot of ways, this wall is like a person in that it is unlike any other. It has cracks which indicate pressure, strain and heat. These are things that many of us have felt the weight of over the years of our lives. At its centre, the wall has a simple white curtain seen through a solitary window. I ask you this: Are not the eyes windows to the soul? As you look at these pictures, seeing the passage of time, think of how this wall is a metaphor for a human being and their life, notice its beauty, how it stands silent and strong and yet speaks to so many.

A simple wall… but it has been something to so many: a landmark, a passing site, a place to play, a piece of each person’s day as they pass it. To Alper it has been a companion, a fellow gentleman of the road, together they have shared a journey twelves years long. Alper capturing small parts of it, till he captured the very end. In a way the wall is more beautiful for having been broken, it has certainly changed the way I view the world I live in.

Perhaps this is why this very wall made it into galleries and onto the cover of books, it had an impact not only because of how it looked but also because somebody stopped and took notice. In this introspective moment, I wonder if the world wouldn’t be infinitely better if each of us took the time to notice the rare beauty of the things we take for granted that are all around us.